An up-to-date digest of news about developments in the Australian gambling industry, produced in conjunction with https://500rules.com/best-australian-casinos/. Find out about major changes in local legislation, high-profile scandals, triumphant wins and new initiatives to implement responsible gambling policies.
Promoting Carded Play
In Australia, the debate about the need to tighten control over projects offering gambling services has once again heated up. This time in the centre of attention of experts and activists was the initiative to introduce the mandatory use of cashless cards for payment transactions in the systems of the best Aussie casino in Queensland. The main goal of such a programme is to teach users to be responsible with their bankroll and the ability to control their spending on bets and winnings.
The initiator and the main driving force behind the project to introduce cashless cards is the public organisation Alliance for Gambling Reform, which calls on the Queensland authorities to introduce a mandatory system of ‘carded play’ – a special payment system for users, which is designed for betting in slots and land-based slot machines. The main reason for this change is concern about the amount of money local people spend on such hobbies and the threat of gambling addiction and other mental health problems due to uncontrolled spending.
The organisation Alliance for Gambling Reform regularly conducts research to identify the most vulnerable groups of people who may become addicted to this form of leisure.
How Carded Play Works
The system requires the user to register on a common register and set a loss limit before starting to play. For example, you can set a maximum limit of AUD 100 that can be spent on bets and games within one week. Once this limit is reached, further access to the online casino is blocked until the next reporting period.
Similar reforms are already being introduced in the state of Victoria. There, the maximum limit of funds that can be spent on gambling machines was reduced from 1000 AUD to 100 AUD. State authorities recognised the initiative as an important step to protect users from excessive losses and uncontrolled behaviour.
The introduction of such cards in New South Wales is also being discussed, but so far only at the level of launching pilot programmes.
Restriction of Freedom of Choice
However, the initiative has its detractors. Executive Director of Queensland Hotels Association Bernie Hogan strongly criticised the possible restrictions. He noted that users should have the right to choose how to spend their money on entertainment, including gambling. Such interference in their leisure time could be a violation of the rights and freedoms of the population.
This view reflects business concerns about possible losses, as the gambling industry generates significant revenues from machines and betting. Nevertheless, public pressure is mounting on politicians: reforms may be inevitable. For now, the government is only looking at the prospect of introducing carded play into the operation of online casinos and land-based establishments. Queensland’s Justice Minister has said they intend to scrutinise the experiences of Victoria and New South Wales before making any final decisions. It is expected that more concrete steps in one direction or another will be taken by the end of 2025.
Big Lottery Winnings
While some gambling enthusiasts are discussing restrictions and possible changes to the processes of Australian casino sites, others are focused on the two biggest winnings that have rocked Australia in 2025.
A Queensland Father Eon $60 Million
A resident of Bribie Island in Queensland has become the sole owner of a winning ticket in the $60 million Powerball draw. He said he was just dreaming of winning when he received a call from representatives of The Lott: The man said he dreamt a few months ago that he was winning $40 million with a friend. Since then, they had promised each other to buy tickets for the big drawings. Fortunately, he remembered to place the bet this time – his wife reminded him while they were relaxing on the veranda.
He used the same numbers he’d been playing for more than 15 years. Now he plans to help out family and friends, as well as fulfil his late mother’s dream of buying the vintage Chevy she once owned but was forced to sell.
The winning Powerball numbers as of the date of the drawing the man won were as follows: 20, 23, 34, 19, 24, 31, 10.
Biggest Win in Oz Lotto History
A western Sydney resident has hit the biggest jackpot in Oz Lotto history and won $100 million. When she got the call, she nearly hung up thinking it was a prank. She said she had just gone to bed after watching the TV show when the phone was ringing off the hook. After learning about the winnings, she decided to quit her job and invest the proceeds in buying a new house and taking a big holiday.
Oz Lotto winning numbers for draw number 1616: 3, 34, 35, 26, 44, 39, 36. Additional numbers: 5, 45, 6.
The lottery organisers noted that such large sums attract the attention of millions of gambling enthusiasts across the country. According to preliminary estimates and participation in the draw was about a third of the adult population of Australia.
Lawsuit Against Sportsbet
Sportsbet, one of the largest and best known betting sites in the world, is facing legal consequences and has been embroiled in a lawsuit. Law firm Maurice Blackburn has filed a class action lawsuit accusing the company of violating legislation banning live betting.
According to lawyer Elizabeth O’Shea, Australian law prohibits betting after a sporting event has started – unless the bet is placed via a phone number application. However, Sportsbet’s Fast Code service provides the ability to enter a code into the site’s system to confirm a bet, thereby breaking this rule.
According to representatives of law firm Maurice Blackburn, the use of Fast Code is an attempt to circumvent laws aimed at preventing gambling addiction, as well as a direct breach of the law, as the key information – the details of the bet – is not transmitted by voice, but virtually via smartphones and laptops.
By this approach, the company could mislead users by presenting the service as fully legal. According to the lawsuit, Sportsbet is required to refund anyone who has placed live bets through Fast Code in the last six years – excluding horse racing, dog racing and other forms of racing.
Sportsbet representatives have yet to comment on the situation, but we’ll keep an eye on developments.
Crisis in AFL Processes
The Australian Football League (AFL) has also found itself at the centre of a major sports betting regulation scandal. Leaked internal documents have revealed that the AFL’s evidence-based integrity system can no longer cope with the risks associated with the growing popularity of betting among the local population. With the number of sports betting sites skyrocketing past the 80 project mark, the league is facing a large number of vulnerabilities that call into question the integrity of odds for many competitions.
Potential Threats
According to Guardian Australia, an internal report on processes and irregularities was drawn up back in December 2024. Back then, the document referred to ‘threats to evidential integrity developing at an unprecedented rate’. It detailed weaknesses in the current monitoring system including: lack of access to all betting data, blind spots in tracking suspicious transactions, failure to promptly identify betting incidents by sportsmen, coaches and club staff, slowness of betting site systems in providing and updating information, and technical limitations in ongoing data collection and processing.
Examples of System Failures
The basis for claims is now specific incidents, spelt out in the documents, which point to deficiencies in the existing control model
- Leakage of insider information through the fault of a referee – one of the referees provided information about possible results to users of betting sites in advance. And it was only through a major project loss in this market that suspicious behaviour was identified. Only after that the AFL asked for data from the teams of all sites, which significantly delayed the investigation;
- Betting on the first goal – one of the players passed on confidential information about his new status with the team. This information was not public, but based on it, bets were placed that he would be the one to score the first goal of the match;
- Disclosed medical secrets – an AFLW medical staff member with information about injuries placed bets through his partner’s account. The volume of bets was small, so the betting site’s monitoring system didn’t pick up anything suspicious.
To deal with the growing problem, the AFL is proposing to create a centralised database of all betting transactions – involving all projects providing betting services within Australia. The system would be managed by a third-party provider with artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms capable of identifying suspicious activity in real time. This database is expected to include player’s first and last name, date of birth, residential address, phone numbers, email, betting volume and frequency.
The AI is expected to be able to easily find suspicious connections and transactions. However, the AFL wants the cost of implementing the system to fall entirely on the shoulders of the betting sites with which it has partnership agreements.
The projects themselves have strongly opposed such an initiative, as they consider it excessive and unreasonable, violating privacy principles and potentially dangerous in terms of personal data leakage. In the opinion of many brands, this would set a serious precedent that would affect the trust of users and the image of companies. The AFL was therefore forced to postpone the launch of the new system, which is a direct interference with commercial activity.
AFL Interests
It’s not public information, but the AFL receives a percentage of every bet placed on its matches.Such revenues are such an important part of financial planning, as is revenue from broadcasts and ticket sales. The model was spearheaded by former AFL general manager Andrew Demetriou, who was keen to utilise the flow of money from betting sites to the benefit of the league.
It is important to note that some of this revenue is channelled into ensuring the integrity of matches. However, according to experts, there is a clear conflict of interest here: the league is fighting foul play while profiting from betting.
In January 2025, the AFL sent out a draft agreement to bookmakers that stipulated an annual minimum fee of at least AUD 20,000 for access to the AFL match betting market. This sparked a wave of outrage, especially among smaller projects. More than 30 companies turned to Pat Brown Legal to defend their interests.
After negotiations, the league lowered the threshold. Projects will now have to pay AUD 3,000 in 2025, AUD 5,000 in 2026, AUD 7,000 in 2027. But even these figures remain a serious investment for many young companies, so they are considering taking the Victorian regulator to court or even to court.
There’s also a confidentiality clause in the text of the proposed agreement: site teams are not allowed to disclose the terms of the contract without written authorisation from the AFL.
Experts’ Comments
The AFL Players Association has also criticised the new system. In its view, athletes are being turned into betting targets and their labour is being used to generate profits that do not go directly back to them. Former AFL commissioner Colin Carter believes it is time for the league to change its stance on advertising and engagement with the betting and gambling industry.
Public health representatives, including the Australian Medical Association, are concerned about how deeply the AFL is involved in betting services. They emphasise that the league’s increased reliance on this revenue format prevents it from taking an objective approach to issues of user protection and evidential integrity.
The Department of Health is considering tighter controls on sports betting advertising. It is also discussing transferring new powers to the Victorian regulator to oversee the league’s operations.
The Growing Popularity of Self-Exclusion Systems
Since its launch in August 2023, BetStop Australia’s national self-exclusion register of online casino site systems has reached an all-time high, with more than 40,000 people now registered with the programme having made the decision to voluntarily restrict access to sports betting, slots and other entertainment. The figures were released by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and show a growing focus on gambling addiction among the country’s population.
As of 31 March 2025, there are 40,121 registered users on the system, of which 27,763 are in the active self-exclusion phase. A further 12,358 have either completed or cancelled their period of restricted access.
The launch of BetStop was an important part of a national strategy to combat the effects of gambling addiction, including social, economic and psychological aspects.
How BetStop Works
BetStop is Australia’s nationwide self-exclusion scheme designed to combat the problems that gambling addiction can cause. By choosing to sign up to the program, a person prohibits themselves from accessing licensed sports betting sites and online casinos. These include both traditional websites and mobile apps, as well as phone lines for betting applications.
Once registered in the system, the teams of all betting and gambling sites on the register are required to block the ability to create new accounts and stop sending the user marketing and promotional material. Violation of these rules entails serious fines and regulatory sanctions for project teams.
Today, the system is maximally adapted to the demands and needs of users from Australia, so it offers participants flexible conditions:
- Minimum restriction period – 3-month exception;
- Maximum restriction period – permanent (lifetime) exclusion.
These time limits allow users to choose a strategy that suits their level of dependence, financial situation and personal readiness to change.
Geography of Participants and Enrolment Dynamics
A recent ACMA study provides data on the number of BetStop members in different states and territories in Australia. The most active regions were:
- New South Wales (NSW) – 12,531 participants, the highest number of self-exclusions;
- Victoria – 10,800 participants;
Queensland, with 8,125 participants, ranked third.
Regions such as the Northern Territory and Tasmania were less active. It is important to note, however, that only the Northern Territory saw an increase in self-exclusion applications from 38 to 44 new registrations in the third quarter of 2024/25, while other regions recorded a slight decrease.
Despite the strong overall performance, BetStop registration rates have started to decline. In New South Wales, new sign-ups in the second quarter of 2024/25 totalled 1,376, down markedly from 1,710 in the same period the previous year.
Looking at the overall trend year on year, there were 7,496 sign-ups in Q1 2023/24, but only 4,521 in Q1 2024/25 already.
This may indicate an organisation’s inability to reach the target audience it needs, a lack of awareness in certain groups of the population about the dangers of gambling addiction, or a decrease in information pressure from regulators and the government.
Let’s take a look at who is most likely to use the self-exclusion system. BetStop’s research also includes detailed demographic statistics to better understand which groups are most likely to self-exclude:
- Young people under 30 – 46% of all participants;
- People aged 31-40 – 32%;
- People aged 41-50 – 13%;
- Users over 60 years old – just 3%.
This data directly indicates that it is younger people who are most concerned about their gambling behaviour and level of involvement in gambling, for whom sports betting and online casino games are more likely to be more easily accessible due to the popularity of mobile apps with instant connectivity and high risk of impulsive behaviour. Meanwhile, participation remains minimal among older people – perhaps due to less engagement with gambling or a lack of self-exclusion information through BetStop registration.
The data on the length of time participants choose to self-exclude is also interesting. Lifetime exclusion was chosen by 39% of users – this indicates a deep awareness and willingness to make radical changes. Exclusion for 3 months was chosen by 17% of participants, and a period of 3 months to 2 years was chosen by 39% of participants
The remaining users chose intermediate or non-standard timeframes. This pattern confirms that many are using BetStop not as a temporary ‘respite’ but as a long-term strategy to combat gambling addiction.
Operators’ Obligations
Under regulatory requirements, all licensed betting sites and online casinos in Australia are required to:
- Place information about BetStop on the homepage of the site;
- Mention BetStop in applications and marketing mailings;
- Monitor disturbing behaviour of users who show signs of gambling addiction and provide them with a link to the resource, as well as the contacts of specialist organisations that specialise in the treatment of gambling addiction.
Failure to comply with these requirements will result in fines and may lead to the suspension of the licence. BetStop is thus becoming an integral part of responsible gambling policy throughout Australia.
But despite the successes, the system faces a number of challenges:
- Slowing registration rates – indicating the need for an additional awareness campaign;
- Lack of participation from the older population – may be due to a lack of digital skills or trust in online resources;
- Need for technical integration with the systems of betting sites and online casinos – security services must promptly check against the BetStop register when new accounts are created.
The Australian government and ACMA are considering expanding BetStop’s functions through the introduction of a temporary ‘cool-off period’ (cool-off) so that the user can return to the system before the end of the term, integration with other assistance programmes that offer vulnerable audiences psychological support, financial counselling. There are also plans to develop a mobile app to manage self-exclusion.
Increased accountability on the part of the projects themselves is condemned. In particular, sanctions are being considered for attempts to circumvent bans or for sending unauthorised promotional material to players on the register. So far, BetStop is really in demand among the population, so it has prospects for further development.
Prospects for the Gambling Market in Australia
Australia once again faces a dilemma where regulators and local projects need to strike a balance between the freedom of choice of the public, tools to deter gambling addiction and ensuring the integrity of the gaming process. Lawsuits, a reform initiative and record winnings show the extent of the gambling trend in the country. Clearly, there are important decisions ahead for Australia that will determine the future of both the users themselves and the projects that are currently on the local market.
